[2 - 2] at ATK reviews we spent the year testing
[2 - 4] a wide range of Kitchen products from
[4 - 7] everyday essentials to specialized tools
[7 - 9] you can find all of our detailed reviews
[9 - 12] at americastestkitchen.com but today we
[12 - 13] want to give you a quick tour of our top
[13 - 15] picks we thought it would be fun to
[15 - 17] highlight some of the best and worst
[17 - 19] products we've come across so you know
[19 - 21] what's worth adding to your kitchen
[21 - 24] here's what you should look for in 2025
[24 - 26] including a few things that surprised us
[35 - 35] first Panini presses a good one can make
[35 - 37] crispy hot sandwiches but a great one
[37 - 38] does so much more you can grill
[38 - 40] vegetables or meats or even make bacon
[40 - 42] and pancakes and eggs the brevel serum
[42 - 46] press is our top pick for 2025 it Browns
[46 - 48] deeply and the tall ridges make terrific
[48 - 50] grill marks the ridges are angled so
[50 - 52] food won't slide forward as you close
[52 - 54] the lid the top floats rather than being
[54 - 56] attached at the back so you can make a
[56 - 59] super thick sandwich and best of all it
[59 - 61] opens to use as a griddle the controls
[61 - 63] are simple and you can set each side to
[63 - 65] a different temperature these roomy
[65 - 68] plates have ceramic non-stick coating
[68 - 70] they flip to give you a rid grill or a
[70 - 72] smooth griddle and they're really easy
[72 - 74] to clean you can even buy waffle plates
[74 - 76] separately so it becomes a waffle iron
[76 - 78] this was a top performer across the
[78 - 82] board at about $200 surprisingly we also
[82 - 84] loved this bargain model the dash
[84 - 86] Express griddle this actually kept pace
[87 - 89] with much pricier presses it can't make
[89 - 90] grill marks and and it can't handle
[90 - 93] really large food but for just $20 it
[93 - 96] makes crisp sandwiches fluffy omelets it
[96 - 98] Sears nicely it's easy to clean and it's
[98 - 100] just plain fun to use you've probably
[100 - 102] noticed that flat top grills are all the
[102 - 104] rage but you might not be quite ready to
[104 - 106] buy a whole second Grill outdoor
[106 - 108] griddles are a great alternative cuz you
[108 - 110] can get that same Flat Top Grill
[110 - 112] experience right on your existing gas or
[112 - 115] charcoal grill our top pick for 2025 is
[115 - 117] the little griddle kettle C this is a
[117 - 119] stainless steel griddle that fits both
[119 - 121] round charcoal kettles and gas grills
[121 - 124] it's a perfect way to get that flat top
[124 - 126] cooking experience the kettle queue has
[126 - 127] plenty of room for cooking and because
[127 - 129] it's sits up above the grill grate on
[129 - 131] crossb bars that allows the heat to
[131 - 133] circulate evenly and you don't get any
[133 - 135] hot spots we tested it with everything
[135 - 137] from Smash Burgers and chicken burgers
[137 - 139] the pancakes eggs and bacon and it
[139 - 141] cooked and browned food beautifully it
[141 - 143] has a nice stainless steel surface it's
[143 - 145] easy to clean it's got a grease trrap
[145 - 146] it's got a little back stop so your
[146 - 148] burgers and pancakes don't fly off the
[148 - 150] back it was really easy to use it's nice
[150 - 153] and sturdy but it only weighs 7 lbs and
[153 - 155] it fits in your sink to clean it up for
[155 - 157] less than $70 this little griddle is
[157 - 160] great next up wine Savers you know if
[160 - 162] you've ever opened a bottle of wine and
[162 - 163] didn't finish it you know how fast it
[163 - 166] goes bad air gets in it oxidizes the
[166 - 168] wine and it doesn't taste good with the
[168 - 170] right wine saver you can keep that wine
[170 - 172] for days or even weeks I have had one of
[172 - 174] these for a long time and it's now our
[174 - 176] overall favorite wine saver it's called
[176 - 179] the vacuvin now the vacuvin wine saver
[179 - 181] is easy to use it pumps out the air in
[181 - 183] the bottle that messes with your wine
[183 - 185] and it comes with two Stoppers and costs
[185 - 188] about $14 you can buy extra Stoppers
[188 - 190] separately we tested it and it kept the
[190 - 191] wine in great condition for more than a
[191 - 193] week which is enough time to finish a
[193 - 195] bottle of wine come on but if you a wine
[195 - 197] connoisseur and you want to open a whole
[197 - 199] bunch of different fancy wines you have
[199 - 201] another option and it's called the
[201 - 203] coravin this protects by injecting argon
[203 - 205] which is inert gas which doesn't
[205 - 207] interact with the wine the way oxygen
[207 - 209] does and that fills a head space the
[209 - 212] bottle so it stays really perfect in our
[212 - 214] tests both red and white wine stayed
[214 - 217] fresh for two weeks and the white was
[217 - 219] still almost perfect after a month each
[219 - 221] of those argon capsules can do four
[221 - 224] bottles of wine comes to about $2.20 per
[224 - 225] bottle but if you have a good wine
[225 - 227] collection and you're trying to keep it
[227 - 228] in great shape this is a wonderful
[228 - 230] choice and now for a product that did
[230 - 232] not live up to the hype electric
[232 - 235] composters now these machines promise an
[235 - 237] easy solution to Turning food scraps
[237 - 240] into compost but in reality they fall
[240 - 243] short the Vitamix food cycler eco5 and
[243 - 245] frankly every electric composter we
[245 - 248] tested is at the bottom of our list for
[248 - 250] 2025 now Vitamix is the name in
[250 - 252] professional blender so we're really
[252 - 254] excited to test this and it's really
[254 - 256] sleek and it's nicely made but it just
[256 - 258] doesn't do what a composter should do
[258 - 260] which is simply to make compost the
[260 - 262] biggest issue we found is that it
[262 - 265] doesn't produce real compost it just
[265 - 267] dehydrates and grinds up the food into
[267 - 270] this dry powdery substance and more
[270 - 273] importantly it kills all those nutrients
[273 - 274] that make compost actually good for the
[274 - 276] soil in your garden it does compress
[277 - 279] your food waste but for about
[279 - 282] $600 you're left with a crispy pile of
[282 - 285] nothing don't bother just get a real
[285 - 287] compost bucket save your food scraps put
[288 - 289] them in your garden and that will make
[289 - 293] it grow don't waste your money on this
[296 - 296] junk oyster knives come in all kinds of
[296 - 299] styles Boston New Haven Galveston
[299 - 301] Providence West Coast French Japanese
[302 - 304] and more each suited for specific sizes
[304 - 306] of oysters from different regions but
[306 - 308] let's be real it's not practical to own
[308 - 310] a different knife for every type of
[310 - 312] oyster you might come across most people
[312 - 314] don't have an oyster knife at all let
[314 - 316] alone a selection but owning one can
[316 - 318] unlock the luxury of oysters at home for
[319 - 322] much cheaper that's why the R Murphy New
[322 - 324] Haven shucker is our top pick it's the
[324 - 326] best all-purpose option capable of
[326 - 329] handling everything from Tiny Olympia
[329 - 332] oysters from the Pacific Northwest to
[332 - 334] extra large Gulf oysters and everything
[334 - 336] in between its short blade gave us great
[336 - 339] control and the upturn tip provided
[339 - 342] extra leverage for popping open even the
[342 - 344] toughest shells the knife slid smoothly
[344 - 346] around the curve of the bottom shell
[346 - 348] making the shucking process more
[348 - 350] seamless also it's lightweight with a
[350 - 354] long grippy recycled plastic handle that
[354 - 356] was comfortable to hold during long
[356 - 358] stints of shuing oyster shucking can be
[358 - 360] intimidating but this knife had a
[360 - 363] shucking leg Pros if you're a coffee
[363 - 365] lover a bur grinder is a GameChanger
[365 - 367] unlike blade Grinders bur Grinders are
[368 - 370] able to repeatedly produce evenly ground
[370 - 373] coffee beans ensuring consistency in
[373 - 375] your brewed coffee this year our top
[375 - 376] rated model at the end of testing was
[376 - 379] The barazza Encore ESP this grinder
[379 - 382] offers 40 settings with 20 specifically
[382 - 384] designed for espresso grinds which are
[384 - 386] finer it has a tinted Hopper to protect
[386 - 388] beans from light exposure which protects
[388 - 390] their flavor and clear markings and
[390 - 392] labels so we knew what we were doing it
[392 - 394] also had a heavy base for keeping it
[394 - 396] stable on the countertop some of these
[396 - 398] kind of rattle around the barasa is also
[398 - 400] easy to clean and replacement parts are
[400 - 402] readily available which I had to
[402 - 404] experience myself I have this model I
[404 - 407] bought it used and I broke it I was
[407 - 409] using really oily dark roasted beans and
[409 - 411] it clogged it up but the company was
[411 - 413] great about replacing it and it's still
[413 - 415] running to this day if you're a real
[415 - 417] espresso head you might want to upgrade
[417 - 420] to the baratza set 270 and everything we
[420 - 422] said about the ESP is also true for this
[422 - 425] model too except that it has 270
[425 - 427] settings so you can dial your Brew in
[427 - 430] with the utmost Precision wood is the
[430 - 432] traditional Pizza Oven fuel but it
[432 - 433] doesn't make sense for the small
[433 - 435] portable Ovens of today you have to cut
[435 - 438] the wood into small pieces and feed it
[438 - 440] constantly and even when you do so it
[440 - 442] can be near impossible to keep a high
[442 - 444] temperature but the real surprise for me
[444 - 446] was learning from Pizza experts that
[446 - 449] pizza is in the oven for such a short
[449 - 451] period of time that wood isn't actually
[451 - 454] contributing any flavor gas which gets
[454 - 457] ripping hot very quickly and stays that
[457 - 459] way with the push of a button is a much
[459 - 462] better choice and is the fuel choice we
[462 - 464] recommend for small outdoor pizza ovens
[464 - 466] with that in mind a new all gas model
[466 - 469] from solo stove caught our eye this year
[469 - 471] this is the solo Pi Prime this is the
[471 - 474] first propane only model from solo stove
[474 - 476] their original pie can do wood fire or
[477 - 479] gas and is more expensive so we were
[480 - 482] excited about this costs half as much
[482 - 484] and focuses on the fuel source that we
[484 - 487] love gas win-win It Made Beautiful
[487 - 488] pizzas that were spotty and charred on
[488 - 490] the outside and soft and chewy in the
[490 - 492] inside in just under 2 minutes this
[493 - 495] model rivaled our top rated winner the
[495 - 498] uni Cota 12 and is a great alternative
[498 - 500] it's bigger so it's less portable but
[500 - 501] that's really the only difference they
[501 - 503] made great pizza and they were both easy
[503 - 504] to use if you're not planning to move
[504 - 506] your oven around that much you're not
[506 - 508] taking it to pizza parties at the park
[508 - 510] size might not be an issue for me it
[510 - 512] wasn't I love this thing and now for
[512 - 514] some not so good news let's talk about
[514 - 517] wireless remote probe thermometers which
[517 - 519] seem like a dream for anyone who loves
[519 - 521] grilling or smoking Meats unfortunately
[521 - 524] we found most of these devices are not
[524 - 526] there yet this year we tested several
[526 - 528] new models and saw a ton of Bluetooth
[528 - 531] connectivity issues we couldn't be
[531 - 533] inside a house and connected to a grill
[533 - 534] outside which is like isn't that the
[534 - 537] point the probes also tended to poke big
[537 - 539] unsightly holes in the food like our
[539 - 541] gorgeous Stakes no thank you one splashy
[541 - 544] new offering the combustion predictive
[544 - 546] thermometer which I have right here it
[546 - 548] was clearly brought to Market too soon
[548 - 550] there were tons of app and connectivity
[550 - 552] issues it felt like it was in beta we
[552 - 555] hope this model and Bluetooth technology
[555 - 557] in general will improve and we look
[557 - 560] forward to testing more but until then
[560 - 562] we recommend a remote thermometer that
[562 - 564] still uses a good oldfashioned wire like
[564 - 566] our winter the thermoworks smoke 2
[566 - 569] Channel alarm or our upgrade pick the
[569 - 572] fireboard 2 which is pricey but durable
[572 - 574] and well-designed it has a slew of cool
[574 - 577] features you can nerd out on and as long
[577 - 579] as the base is in a Wi-Fi zone you're
[579 - 580] never going to have to worry about
[580 - 582] losing connection so the combustion
[582 - 584] predictive thermometer a lot of good
[584 - 588] ideas but it's not there yet